The present invention relates to a kitchen appliance for cutting cuttable material such as vegetables, fruit, etc., with a main body, a guide surface on which the cuttable material can be moved to and fro, a blade which, for cutting, is arranged offset in relation to the guide surface so that a piece is cut off from a cuttable material moved on the guide surface in the guide direction toward the blade, the offset between the blade and the guide surface determining the cutting thickness, and with an exchangeable insert for modifying the cutting thickness.
A kitchen appliance of this type is known, for example, from the printed documents DE 298 21 132 U1, EP 306 017 and DE 89 09 068 U1.
Such kitchen appliances are generally also referred to as kitchen slicers. To cut cucumbers, for example, the slicer is generally held over a bowl and, by moving the cucumber to and fro, slices thereof are cut off one after another. The slices fall through a slit between the blade and the guide surface and down into the bowl.
The guide surface is often also referred to as the approach surface. Adjacent to the blade, in the guide direction, there is generally a further guide surface, also called the run-out surface.
The blade is generally arranged transversely with respect to the guide direction. It can, for example, be arranged perpendicular to the guide direction or slightly obliquely thereto. A particularly advantageous configuration is a V-shaped blade in which two obliquely arranged blades run together approximately at the center.
The kitchen appliance can be made of metal, but the main body is often made of plastic.
Abovementioned DE 298 21 132 U1 discloses a kitchen appliance in which two lateral frame parts are connected integrally to an upper guide plate. The frame parts also have grooves for inserting a lower guide plate at different heights.
DE 198 27 077 A1 discloses a device for comminuting food products, with a base plate and an exchangeable grating insert which is pushed from the side into an opening. The grating insert is made of plastic and has a transversely extending blade on its top. Before the blade, in the cutting direction, a guide path is mounted pivotably by means of a living hinge and is supported in one of several pivot positions by a movable adjustment lever.
For adjustment of the cutting height, it is further possible, in the known V-shaped slicer from the Applicant, to modify the cutting thickness by exchanging or turning around an insert piece which forms the lower guide surface and which can be pushed in the guide direction into the slicer.
WO 95/24995 discloses a vegetable slicer for cutting cubes, having an approach surface and a run-out surface which is parallel to the latter and on the front edge of which a V-shaped blade is arranged. Before the blade and after the blade, in the cutting direction, there is in each case a row of perpendicular blades which are spaced apart in the transverse direction. If the cuttable material is turned through 90° between successive cutting maneuvers (cuts), it is possible to cut cubes with the vegetable slicer. The size of the cubes cannot be varied.
DE 89 09 068 U1, mentioned at the outset, discloses a waffle cutter with a main body and an insert in the form of a slide plate. The receiving seat of the main body for the slide plate has a supporting plate designed as a closed surface. The supporting plate has a large number of recesses. On the underside of the slide plate there are a correspondingly large number of downwardly projecting lugs. The slide plate can be locked in two different positions on the receiving seat in the guide direction. In one position, the lugs engage in the recesses. In the other position, the lugs rest on the supporting plate. By pressing the slide plate out of the recesses and subsequently moving the slide plate in the guide direction, it is thus possible to reduce the cutting thickness.
Finally, EP 0 306 017 A2, mentioned at the outset, relates to a kitchen slicer which has a main body and an insert. The insert can be pushed into the main body in the guide direction. The insert has two plate parts, the distance between which is adjustable. In one configuration, the plate parts can be screwed to each other. In a further configuration, a wedge is arranged between the plates. In both configurations, the plate parts are mutually adjusted in a direction perpendicular to the guide direction.
The object of the invention is to make available an improved kitchen appliance with which it is possible to modify the cutting thickness in a simple way.